External Posts

Professor of Art Véronique Plesch organized and chaired the session “Word and Image in the Studio Practice” at the 108th College Art Association Annual Conference that took place in Chicago Feb. 12–15. The session was sponsored by the International Association of Word and Image Studies. Plesch also presented a response to the three papers in the panel, one of which by John Tyson, Colby Class of 2004, who is currently assistant professor of modern and contemporary art at UMass Boston.

Caroline Wren '20, an environmental policy major and cinema studies minor, is quoted in a Lewiston Sun Journal article following her testimony at a recent Maine Legislature public hearing on a bill to help low-income Mainers test for arsenic in their well water. For her honors thesis with Gail Carlson, assistant professor of environmental studies, Wren interviewed people in the Blue Hill, Maine, area about their experiences with their drinking water, and she also provided test kits with a grant from the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment. Wren is currently doing data analysis and write-up about her results.

Caroline Wren '20, an environmental policy major and cinema studies minor, is quoted in a Lewiston Sun Journal article following her testimony at a recent Maine Legislature public hearing on a bill to help low-income Mainers test for arsenic in their well water. For her honors thesis with Gail Carlson, assistant professor of environmental studies, Wren interviewed people in the Blue Hill, Maine, area about their experiences with their drinking water, and she also provided test kits with a grant from the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment. Wren is currently doing data analysis and write-up about her results.

Luis Millones, Charles A. Dana Professor of Spanish, has joined the board of directors of the Maine Humanities Council. The Maine Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit organization, uses the humanities—literature, history, philosophy, and culture—as a tool for positive change in Maine communities. The MHC programs and grants encourage critical thinking and conversations across social, economic, and cultural boundaries.

Marta Ameri, assistant professor of art, has published an article titled "Who Holds the Keys? Identifying Female administrators at Shahr-i Sokhta" in Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies. The article compares the physical and iconographic aspects of seals found in the cemetery of the third millennium BCE Iranian site of Shahr-i Sokhta with those of seals used for administrative sealing to identify different groups of people responsible for controlling goods and resources. Ameri uses the observed similarity between seals used for sealing and those found buried in women’s graves to suggest that women were responsible for most of the administrative sealing at Shahr-i Sokhta in the mid-third millennium BC, and to call into question the often-unchallenged assumption that men were by default responsible for administration in ancient societies.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Gail Carlson penned a letter to the editor, "Mainers’ health vulnerable to climate change," that ran Feb. 5 in the Morning Sentinel. In it, Carlson notes how climate-related events such a rising heat index, increased rainfall amounts, more ticks and Lyme disease, and worsening air pollution affect Mainers, especially vulnerable populations. "Protecting the health of all Mainers requires us to take climate action, and the public is welcome to engage with the Maine Climate Council as it develops a climate plan for the state that will strengthen our economy and build healthy, resilient communities," Carlson writes.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Gail Carlson penned a letter to the editor, "Mainers’ health vulnerable to climate change," that ran Feb. 5 in the Morning Sentinel. In it, Carlson notes how climate-related events such a rising heat index, increased rainfall amounts, more ticks and Lyme disease, and worsening air pollution affect Mainers, especially vulnerable populations. "Protecting the health of all Mainers requires us to take climate action, and the public is welcome to engage with the Maine Climate Council as it develops a climate plan for the state that will strengthen our economy and build healthy, resilient communities," Carlson writes.

A Portland Press Herald article heralds Colby and Waterville's partnership as "a better model" for helping cities get on solid economic footing. Herald reporter Greg Kesich's article "The View From Here: Do we have to be the next San Jose?" ponders how the recent announcement that Northeastern University will establish the Roux Institute in Portland will affect the city, perhaps by further driving up property values and driving out residents, phenomena happening in San Jose. "There might be a better model a little closer to home. That’s the city of Waterville," Kesich writes. “Colleges and universities have a privileged position in this country because we provide a public good,” President David A. Greene said in a phone interview. “We all have an obligation to contribute in multiple ways.”

Melody Larson '20, an environmental policy major, attended the Maine Climate Council Jan. 29 and wrote a letter to the Morning Sentinel about her experience. In "Maine doing right for climate," Larson recounts what she learned attending the Maine Climate Council and participating in Maine Youth Voices Day. "As a Mainer and Colby College student, it was a powerful experience to stand with fellow Maine youth as demands for the Maine Climate Council, including quicker climate action and a just framework for climate adaptation and mitigation, were presented," she wrote.

Melody Larson '20, an environmental policy major, attended the Maine Climate Council Jan. 29 and wrote a letter to the Morning Sentinel about her experience. In "Maine doing right for climate," Larson recounts what she learned attending the Maine Climate Council and participating in Maine Youth Voices Day. "As a Mainer and Colby College student, it was a powerful experience to stand with fellow Maine youth as demands for the Maine Climate Council, including quicker climate action and a just framework for climate adaptation and mitigation, were presented," she wrote.